Award-winning author Andrew Klavan spent the bulk of his life as a self-described “secular Jew,” until he embarked on a 35-year journey toward discovering his faith — a quest that led him to embrace Jesus.

“Everybody is living right now very far away from faith. The default idea, especially among … what they sometimes call thought leaders … is that every sane, smart, sophisticated person is an atheist,” he said. “If you’re not an atheist there’s something weird about you, and if you’re a Christian you must be a rube.”

Klavan continued, “I think that has a very, very powerful effect on what people think even before they know what they think.”

As for his own story, Klavan recounted his 35-year journey toward God, noting that he wasn’t baptized until he was nearing 50 years of age. In the midst of a successful literary career, with films being adapted to Hollywood movies, Klavan said that discovering Christianity led him to a place in which his “entire perspective changed.”

“After five years I saw that my life had changed massively for the better. … I said to God, ‘Thank you, what can I do for you?'” Klavan recalled. “And it seemed such a stupid question because he’s God and I’m this schmo.”

But Klavan said he wasn’t quite ready for the response.

“Amost immediately … the words were perfectly formed in my mind, ‘You should be baptized,'” he said, noting that, at the time, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

But despite some of the challenges it caused, Klavan said he did just that, with his faith growing over the subsequent years.

And the author, who is known for his works of fiction, also explained why he decided to write “The Great Good Thing,” a personal memoir, noting that he believes the secular narrative that surrounds so many in our culture is “actually incorrect.”

“This narrative that we’re all surrounded by … is actually incorrect, it’s actually wrong,” Klavan said. “And just a little bit of independent thought, a little bit of logic and a little bit of information will lead you to certain conclusions that will, at the very least, make Christianity seem very plausible.”